Wire-stretcher.



No. 834,599. PATBNTED 00130, 190e.

` A. J. WILSON.

WIRE STRETCHER. APPLIGATION FILED AUG. a. 190e.

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UNITED ,sTATEs PATENT OEEIOE.

' WIRE-STRETC'HER.

vSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application led August 8, 1906. Serial No. 329,661. y

To a/ZZ whom t may concern.'

, Be it known that I, ANOIL J. WILSON, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Dexter, inthe county of Jefferson and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Stretchers, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wire-stretchers designed foruse in connection with the building of wirefences; and the inventionrelates particularly to a device to be used in stretching the heavywoven wire emable width or length used in the construction of fences maybe evenly and tightly stretched and held under tension until 1t has beensecurely fastened to the posts.

An important feature of the device consists in providing a strong framewhich is easily portable and which is iitted with a number of novel andstrong wire clamping and stretching parts which are capable of beingadjusted and set for repeated operations without losing any of thetensionA or requiring any change in the position of the main device.

Other features and parts of the invention will -be readily understoodfrom the detail description which follows, as well as from theaccompanying drawings, which form a p art of this specification, and inwhich- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved wire-stretcher. Fig.2 is a front end elevation of the same. stretcher. Fig. 4 is a verticalsection substantially on the line c c of Fig. 1, showing thewire-clamping parts. Fig. 5 is a view of a section of wire fence,showing the manner of applying the stretcher to the wire and fence. Fig.6 is a detail view of the yoke which forms the connection between theoperating-lever and the clamping members. Fig. 7 is a detail of theforked follower. Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail of one of the pawls.

Similar numerals of reference are assigned to corresponding partsthroughout the several view In the drawings, 2 represents the fourvsidedor open frame of my improved wirestretcher, which may be made of eitherwood Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bottom rails 3 and 4, upon the uppersides or edges of which are formed or disposed toothed portions or racks5 and the end stiles or portions 6 and 7. The teeth 5 may be formed withthe rails 3 and 4 or may be made in the form of racks, either of wood ormetal, and then secured to the rails. members, between which the wire tobe stretched is secured, consist of a follower or part 9, which isformed with av fork at each end, and a clamping-bar 10, which isdetachably secured to the follower by means of the bolts 11 and thehand-nuts 12` The follower 9 when in working position is disposedvertically between the rails 3 and 4, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, and isheld in such position by means of the forks at each end, which straddlethe horizontal rails 3 and 4 of the frame, the latter serving as guidesduring the lateral travel or play of the clamping members when thedevice is being operated.

13 represents a yoke or forked connectingrod, the inner end of which ispivoted or hinged to the center of the follower or clamping member bymeans of the eyebolt 14,- which passes through the follower, and thestrap or loop 15, which is secured to the closed end of the yoke. Thebolt 14 is held rigidly in place by a nut 16. The yoke 13 is disposed insuch manner that the arms pass on each side of the end part 7 of theframe, and the operating-lever 18 is also disposed between the arms ofthe yoke andbythat means is kept in line with the frame and clampingparts. The operating-.lever is pivoted or hinged at 19 to the centerofthe curved end 7 of the frame I have shown a common hinge for the saidconnection between the lever 18 and the frame but any other suitableform of connecting means may be employed instead of the hinge. Theoperating-lever is held in place between the arms of yoke 13 by means ofa pin 20, which passes through the lever and both arms of the yoke, Inorder to afford some range of adjustment for these parts, a series ofholes 21 are bored at close intervals through the arms of the yoke.

To attach the wire to the stretcher, the clamping-b ar 10 is detached byiirst removing the nuts 12, (the bolts 11 being rigidly set in thefollower 9.) The wire is then spread over the side of the follower andthe projecting bolt ends, after which the clamping-bar 10 is replacedfand'nuts 12 put back in place and tightenedjup ;,Thejtightening of thenuts 12 Patented oct. so, 190e. y

The clamping IOO IOS

forces the bar 10 firmly against the wire and the latter against theoutside ofthe follower, thereby pinching and holding the wire with afirm grasp.

To begin the operation of stretching, the frame of the stretcher isplaced on the ground with the end 6 against one of the posts to which itis intended to secure the wire. The follower is set near the forwarderleft end of the frame, Aand the op erating-lever is lifted up to theposition shown in Figs. l and 5. When the wire has been securely clampedbetween the arts9 and 1'0, the operator takes hold of the andle of lever18 and pulls it downwardly. This action, by reason of the connectionbetween said lever and the follower or' clamping member, draws thelatter backward tothe right, thereby stretching the wire, which hadpreviously been secured to one or more posts in the fence, tothe left.

Frequently during the construction of fencesit is found that a singleoperation of the lever andv stretching parts does not reduce the'slackin the wire, and repeated operations are lnecessary tio effect thetension rcquired. In such cases in order to retain the tension-producedby the firstoperation of lever 118, Awhich has drawn the clamping partssome distance to the right, a series of pawls or dogs 22 have beenprovided and disposed between the forked ends of the follower 9 in linewithand above the racks or toothed parts 5. The said pawls are placed insuch position, therefore, that they will gravitate into=the notches orteeth of the racks 5 as the clamping parts are drawn backward in the actof stretching the wire, and as the teeth are preferably short-about aninch in length-every slight movement of the follower toward the right isretained by the pawls, so that when' it is desired to stretch thewirefarther than a single operation or movement of the operating-lever willcarry the saine the pawls-holdA the parts in the last position until'the operator removes pin 20, lifts lever 18 upwardv again to Jrstposition,

and thenA inserts the pin in a new hole in the l yoke 1'3. By this meansthe device is made ready to; be operated a second time and an additionalstretching'ofl thewire effected. If necessary, this `last-named actionmay be repeated several times until the wire will stretch nomore oruntil the clamping parts have ytraveled backward the full length of theframe.

To release theV pawls for the purpose of moving the clamping membersforward, a small lever or handle 23 is formed on the back of eachl pawland projects beyond the side of the follower a suflicient distance topermit of being operated by hand.

In constructing wire fences where my device h'as been employed forstretching the wire I have found it necessary to provide a strong guy orsupport in order to hold the first or starting" post and prevent it from.yielding to the great strain which my stretcher is capable of exertingduring the stretching of the wire. For that purpose I attach a wire 25to the top of the hrst or corner post 26 and secure the other end to asmall log or like part 27, which I embed in the earth the depth of afoot or two, as shown in Fig. 5. Under this arrangement if the log 27 isproperly placed in the earth it will hold. post 26 rigidly in verticalposition during the subsequent stretching of the wire. In practice thewoven wire 24 is first securely nailed or stapled to post 26, and thenthe builder will take the stretcherahead several rods and apply it tothe farther side of a post, as 29, attach the wire to the device bymeans ofthe clamping parts, as described, and then proceed to stretchthe wire and secure it to the intervening posts. When he has finishedconstructing a section of the fence-forinstance, along one side of a lotor field-a guywire and log will be attached to the last post, butdisposed in the opposite direction from the one shown and describedherein.

It is obvious that many of the details and parts-of the device may bevaried without departing from the spirit of my invention, and Itherefore do not restrict myself to the precise construction andarrangement shown and described herein.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a wire-stretcher, comprising a frame, racks formed on the up eredge of the top and bottom rails of said frame, a follower having a forkat each end disposed between said rails, a pawl disposed in each of saidforks adapted to engage the teeth of said racks, a clamping-bardetachably securedI to said follower adapted to grip and hold a web offence-wire, a yoke pivotally connected to said follower, and anoperating-lever hinged to said frame and adjustably connected to saidyoke.

2. In a wire-stretcher, comprising an open frame having racks disposedupon the horizontal rails thereof, wire-clamping members disposed withinsaid frame adapted to travel between and to be guided by said rails, anoperating-lever pivotally attached to one end of said frame, means forconnecting said lever with said clamping members, and means for holdingsaid clamping members from movement in one direction.

3. In a wire-stretcher, comprising a foursided frame, toothed portionsarranged on the top and bottom railsvof said frame, a twoforked followervertically disposed between said rails, means for clamping the web offence-wire to said follower, a yoke connected to said follower, a leverfulcrumed to said frame and having an adjustable connection with saidyoke adapted to effect the move- IIO ment of said follower in theforward or backward direction within said frame, and a series of pawlsto coperate with said toothed portions for the purpose of preventing themovementof said follower in the forward direction by the tension of thewire.

4. In a wire-stretcher, comprising an open frame, a forked follower, aseries of racks arranged on said frame, pawls ycarried by said followeradapted to engage the teeth of said racks, an operating-lever, a yokedconnecting-rod, a detachable clamping-bar7 and a series of bolts andnuts for holding said clamping-bar in operative position.

5. The combination with a fence-post having a web of woven fence-wirefastened thereto and a guy-wire connecting said post with a log embeddedin the earth7 of awire-stretcher, comprising an open frame, a followervertically mounted between the rails of said frame, means for clampingthe free end of said woven wire to said follower7 a lever connected tosaid frame and also with said foliower adapted when operated against thetension of said guy-wire to effect the stretchlng of said woven wire,and means for holding the tension of said woven wire independent of saidoperating-lever.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANCIL J.. WILSON. Witnesses:

HARRY DE WALLACE, EDGAR V'. BLooDoUGH.

